


Let's Go Past The Limit

by hondansadeensommar



Series: Multifandom Hurt/Comfort Oneshots [5]
Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 01:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19188949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hondansadeensommar/pseuds/hondansadeensommar
Summary: “Would you want to stop, Taeyang-ah, if you were me?”





	Let's Go Past The Limit

Juho winced as his feet hit the floor, sending pain shooting through his right hip.The sensation wasn’t completely unexpected; he’d woken up particularly stiff and uncomfortable that morning - sure signs of a flare in his symptoms.Even getting out of bed had been difficult, not that he dared to admit it to anyone.They were only days away from their next comeback, and he couldn’t stand the idea of having to skip promotions for a second time in less than a year. 

They hadn’t really known the full extent of what was happening when Juho had been pulled from “Enough” promotions.The main symptom had been pain in his hip, so they had assumed that it was an injury and stated as much when the decision was announced even though the orthopedic surgeon that had been treating him hadn’t been sure what was going on.The assumption had been some kind of soft tissue injury, but further tests had revealed something completely unexpected - a few days after the rest of the group had started performances, Juho had been officially diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. 

It was a shock, but the more he’d thought about it the more the diagnosis had made sense.He’d had issues with being stiff and sore when he woke up in the mornings for a while, and after he’d been diagnosed he’d started to realize that his hip was far from the only joint that had been affected by the disease.His hip was by far the worst, but he’d been having issues with his hands and his knees as well.A course of steroids and a prescription for pain medication that was supposed to help relieve inflammation had helped to the point that Juho had been able to join the rest of the group on tour, but the stress of touring and immediately going into preparations for a comeback had clearly been too hard on Juho’s body, and his symptoms were starting to flare up again despite the disease-modifying drugs he was given each week to try and prevent his immune system from attacking his joints further.

Normally, Juho loved running “O Sole Mio.”It was a favorite song among all of the members, because it was so different from most of what was being produced.But the dance itself was challenging on a good day, and Juho was _not_ having a good day.He could only hope that his members wouldn’t notice, because even the slightest admission of pain on his part would land Juho on the sidelines, unable to participate further in their comeback.It was one of the many things that their managers had decided on Juho’s behalf when he’d first been diagnosed, with the intention of trying to keep him from getting too sick to continue promoting with the group.

Luck, unfortunately, did not seem to be on Juho’s side. 

“Stop!”Taeyang was looking straight at Juho in the mirror as he halted the run just after their second jump.“Juho- _hyung_ , out.”

“I’m fine…” Juho began to protest.

“You hesitated going into the second jump, and you winced at the landing both times.You need to sit out.”Juho couldn’t help the anger rising in his chest, realizing that Taeyang had been specifically watching him during the whole run.Although Juho knew that the group’s main dancers were both particularly aware of him during rehearsals, the fact that they hadn’t even gotten to their new title track before the younger man was specifically watching _him_ annoyed Juho.

“It’s not a big deal…” Juho began again.“We’re still warming up, it’ll work itself out…”

“No, it won’t,” Chanhee replied, moving towards Juho.“That was not you being stiff or sore, _hyung_.You were legitimately in pain… I was watching, too, that isn’t something you can work out with stretching or continuing to warm up.”

“Come on, Juho- _yah_ ,” Jaeyoon commented, moving to put an arm around Juho’s waist and guide him to the chairs set up in a corner of the room.

“I can walk,” Juho replied, pulling away from the older man’s assistance to walk to the side.He knew that his members weren’t going to back down, now that they had decided that they needed to intervene before he pushed himself too far. 

“Juho- _yah_ … you need to rest if you’re in pain,” Youngbin commented, following Juho across the room.“Is it your hip again?”

“It’s always my hip,” Juho replied, slowly lowering himself into one of the folding chairs and letting Youngbin lift his foot into another chair.“I have meds in my bag… I’ll be fine to keep going once they kick in.”

“We’re less than five minutes into dance rehearsal, and you’re already in enough pain that it’s noticeable,” Inseong replied, bringing Juho’s bag over and setting it down on the chair next to his foot.“You aren’t supposed to dance when you’re in pain.And taking painkillers and using ice to numb it doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t be rehearsing today.”

“You have some time… if we can get the steroids in your system, maybe you won’t have to miss any performances…” Youngkyun began.

“So the stylist _noonas_ can get upset with me when my stage outfits don’t fit in a couple of weeks?Thanks, but no thanks,” Juho replied, shaking his head as he began to dig through his bag to get the pill bottle and take the next dose.“I can get through promotions…”

“You do realize what a bad idea that is, right?” Seokwoo asked, moving to sit next to Juho and pass him a bottle of water to chase down the pill once he had it in his hand.“You’re going to end up doing serious damage to your hip if you don’t take it easier when you’re already in pain.If you don’t listen to your body, you’re going to end up like Heechul- _sunbaenim_ …”

“It isn’t going to get that bad…” Juho replied, shaking his head.“I can handle this…”

“You aren’t going to be able to walk if you don’t take care of yourself properly.”Juho looked up, surprised by the anger in Youngkyun’s voice as the younger rapper finally spoke up.“You can’t be in denial about all of this, _hyung_ … your hip isn’t going to magically get better because you ignore it.It’s going to keep getting worse, and you’re going to end up having to quit…”

“ _Yah_ … that’s enough,” Youngbin interrupted.“He gets it…”

“Does he really?” Taeyang asked softly.“You saw how he tried to fight me when I told him to sit, _hyung_ … he was clearly in pain, but he didn’t want to stop…”

“Would you want to stop, Taeyang- _ah_ , if you were me?” Juho asked, looking up at the dancer.“It isn’t an injury.Rest isn’t really going to _do_ anything for me.If I have to make a choice, I’m going to choose the option that doesn’t end up with anyone being disappointed with me… and right now, that means pushing through so that I don’t disappoint Fantasy.Again…”

There was a moment of silence, before anyone spoke again.“Fantasy want you to be healthy, Juho- _yah_ ,” Inseong replied.“You saw how supportive everyone was when you sat out during ‘Enough’ to let your hip heal, when we thought it was still just an injury.They’ll feel the same way if you have to be pulled again… but what if Youngkyun- _ah_ is right?What if you can get the steroids into your system soon enough that you don’t have to miss any performances, or that you only have to miss one or two?”

Juho sighed, closing his eyes and nodding.“I think there’s a refill on the steroid prescription.I can get one of the managers to let me call it in and go pick it up,” he replied.

Seokwoo put an arm around Juho’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug.“It’s going to be okay, Juho- _yah_.Even if you have to sit out, it isn’t the end of the world.”

“That’s really easy to say when you aren’t the one that has to deal with all of this…” Juho replied, shaking his head.Juho winced as he started to move his foot off the chair, trying to stand up.

“ _Yah_ … _hyung_ , I’ll go get a manager, okay?”Chanhee was out of the room before Juho could even respond. 

Juho was immediately distracted by Jaeyoon coming back into the room with two different packages in his hands.“Ice or heat?” the elder asked.“Which one do you think is going to be better, Juho- _yah_?”

“Ice… heat will only make it worse,” Juho replied, reaching out to take the cold pack from the older man as soon as Jaeyoon had cracked the chemical pack inside to make it actually cool off and holding it against his hip to try and relieve some of the pain.

“Just rest for a while, Juho- _yah_ … you can try dancing again after you have the prescription,” Youngbin commented.Juho nodded, closing his eyes.Although he wasn’t happy with the decision, Juho knew that his members were just trying to look out for him.And as frustrating as it was, Juho knew that he wouldn’t really want to have it any other way.


End file.
